Chapter 140: We can do it
The moment Chief Varros stepped back and declared his exhaustion, the room seemed to freeze—not in peace, but in dread.
The tension in the air thickened like smoke.
The two attendants flinched first, their eyes snapping to the towering, grotesque figure looming only a few meters away.
Its swollen, tentacled form pulsed like a living tumor, and the soft, wheezing rattle of its breaths echoed against the chamber’s stone walls.
"C-Chief Varros..." one attendant stammered, his voice trembling. "W-what should we do now?"
Varros exhaled slowly, wiping sweat from his brow, trying to hide the subtle tremor in his wrist. "We don’t have a choice," he said lowly. "It needs to be distracted. We must buy time... just a little." His voice, while rough, still carried the commanding edge of a seasoned warrior.
But the second attendant snapped to attention, eyes wide. "Distract... you mean us, sir?"
Varros didn’t answer directly. He looked forward, calculating the next move in the silence.
The first attendant immediately stepped forward, voice cracking with respectful protest. "Sir Chief... With all due respect, we’re not equipped for that! That thing—whatever it is—its sheer size, the muscle mass alone, we don’t even know what those tumors do when ruptured! We’re not like you! Or the young masters!"
"We’re trained to assist," the second added, standing firm though his legs slightly shook. "We’re good at throwing knives, providing flanking support—but not direct engagement against... against that."
"I know," Varros said, his voice even, like tempered steel. "I’m not asking you to slay it. Just move, bait it, throw a knife or two, force it to shift its footing. Anything to give me ten seconds to recover."